Rachel Nichols, a reporter with ESPN for nine years, is leaving for sports roles at CNN and Turner Sports.

With her new employers, Nichols will anchor a new weekend sports program on CNN beginning later this year and handle a variety of assignments across sports for Turner Sports, including the NBA and Major League Baseball.

She also will cover major events such as the Olympics. Her first assignment will be covering the upcoming Super Bowl for CNN.

"I couldn't be more excited," she said in a statement.

Before joining ESPN, Nichols worked for The Washington Post and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.

In a tweet Thursday, Nichols says she "couldn''t be more grateful for my time at ESPN."

At ESPN, Nichols worked as a correspondent for SportsCenter, Sunday NFL Countdown, NBA Countdown and E:60, as well covering the sidelines for NFL studio shows and on a number of Monday Night Football games.

Miami Heat forward LeBron James tweeted: "Congrats to @Rachel__Nichols on the new gig!! Best of luck to you"